The last straw: Lincoln farmer wages war on fly-tippers

A frustrated Lincoln farmer who has been relentlessly targeted by fly-tippers has been forced to block his land off and lock himself in.

Patrick Tomlinson, 44, is the manager at a farm just off the A46 near Nettleham, but has been finding more and more rubbish in recent months.

He often finds his gates broken before discovering piles of fridges, mattresses, televisions, garden furniture, and broken walls dumped on his land.

When rubbish is dumped on private land, the council has no obligation to clean it up and farmers often find themselves with a significant bill.

It costs between £500 to £600 to cart away and clean up rubbish dumps, and Patrick says it’s a problem which has been getting worse.

Fly-tipping is a real nuisance for farmers.

“This is a real blight on the countryside. The fly-tippers will break down my gates to get in, so I have to lock myself in with concrete blocks. It’s really silly.

“I can get names and addresses from the rubbish. It’s something I reported to the council and the police but I haven’t got a reply.

“Imagine if you wake up one day and find the same amount of rubbish at the end of your driveway, it’s just the same thing,” Patrick told The Lincolnite.

Patrick doesn’t believe that the rubbish comes from people who are aware that it is being dumped illegally.

He is now urging people to ask questions of people offering to take rubbish away, particularly to find out if they have a Waste Carriers Licence.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has called on councils and the police to help farmers in cleaning up and reporting fly-tipped waste.

A recent report by the NFU, which highlighted a spike in fly-tipping, said: “It should not be the sole responsibility of the landowner to deal with this crime.”

Have you been affected by fly-tipping recently? Get in touch with the team on [email protected] and send in your pictures.